Empori-YUM

This weekend, the second sort-of annual Empori-yum in DC.  It was held in Union Market in Northeast, which was a super cool and trendy venue.  The vendors were all in a working warehouse - complete with rolls of fiber and cabling, concrete and steel) - with all sorts of "Yum"s around; one made with Peeps or another with hot pink fiberglass.  It was all very hipster but really cool too.  I'm not sure whose idea this was or who's in charge of the whole shabang, but they are fantastic at their jobs!

The Good:

~ DC's had considerably more vendors than Baltimore's.  There had to be at least 25 this time around as opposed to the Baltimore's dozen or so.  And the range - anything from almond milk to shake shack - was quite wide.  

~  The free samples this time around were also pretty amazing.  You had to pay for lots and lots but you could also sample lots and lots too.  I had noodles, smoked meat, caramels, grilled cheese, spicy nuts, toffee pretzels, and grits.  All were delicious!  Then of course there was the actual real food you had to buy...

~ The ramen from Toki Underground was fabulous as usual!  Oh my goodness, where has that been all my life?  So delicious!  Then there was the Smores pie from Butter + Scotch. Loved the toasted marshmallow on top.  The crust and the pie itself were pretty good but the marshmallow was the best!

The Bad:

~ Momofuku Milk Bar was all out of the Crack Pie when I finally got around to their booth - oh so depressing!

~ The Pork Buns from Eastside Kings, which were a last minute purchase when I saw someone else's, were not how I'd imagined pork buns.  The bun itself wasn't bad, and the pork was good, but the weird things on top and the shrimp sauce were so not my thing.  I needed to get another snack just to get the taste out of my mouth.

~ Shake Shack was only selling hot dogs and maple custard - not the cheeseburger and chocolate custard I was hoping for.  

All is in all, it was an awesome experience.  I wasn't thrilled about going at first because of the cold weather and the ridiculous drive (that sucked even more than I'd thought it would), but I'm pretty happy I went, and will most definitely be going next year as well!